@kylix_is: "I'm just looking right now at an advert in the local paper, for
conservatories, and I'm shocked to find how expensive they are!
There's this glorified lean-to for - wait for it! - �7,395! And it
looks like it could not possibly contain more than �500 worth of
materials. The "Victorian" (top of the range?) model is �8,799.
Incredible.
MM"
    @andyh: "On Sun, 18 Apr 2004 15:55:45 +0100, Mike Mitchell
<quote>
Is that just for the structure or the building of the base and
erecting the thing as well?
.andy
To email, substitute .nospam with .gl"
    @kylix_is: "On Sun, 18 Apr 2004 16:26:10 +0100, Andy Hall <email_address>
wrote:
<quote>
Oh, no, they do throw it up for you!
Okay, so yes, the labour is included. But over 7 grand for a dwarf
wall, some plastic and a few windows? Couldn't our resident shed
builder do a far better job for half the price?
MM"
    @andyh: "On Sun, 18 Apr 2004 17:38:29 +0100, Mike Mitchell
<quote>
You didn't say what size it was...
The quality of materials varies quite a bit; there are choices of type
of roof and glazing and so on.
I don't know what was on offer in the ad that you saw, but some firms
build a proper foundation suitable for an extension if you decide you
want to go for that later, concrete floor with reinforcing, the works.
The sort of pricing that you are describing is towards the top of the
cheap range, and unless the bulding is small, at the lower end of the
range for one of the national concerns.
So no, they are not cheap, especially if you want a good quality one.
If you want a real surprise, call Amdega or someone like that and ask
them for a price.
.andy
To email, substitute .nospam with .gl"
    @cmcardle75: "<quote>
<url>
Well, I've just ordered a Baltic Pine one. 3,235 quid, but I have to provide
the base and paint and bolt it together myself. 3.1m x 2.6m. It has pretty
much all the extras. Wooden framed rather than plastic (which will rot
quicker than any well maintained wood), with thick fielded wooden panels
instead of a dwarf wall, it has safety glass double glazed units in all
doors, windows AND the roof (no noisy polycarbonate to let all the heat out
in winter), with all sorts of Georgian bars, fanlights and arched beadings.
Without all the extras, it would be about half the price.
I've also got to spend 500 quid on a metal base (including insulation and
base flooring), as I can't use wet concrete, and 50 quid on concrete blocks
for the base foundations. After that, it is just slate, adhesive, paint, fan
convector, prog thermostat and zone valve.
I'm intending to use it daily, even in winter, but only for short periods.
It will be a dining room, so a grotesquely oversized fan convector is
perfect. It'll warm the air quickly to make the room usable in no time,
without actually being on long enough to warm the structure very much,
which, hopefully, will mean it is cheap to run. Indeed, a -1C heat loss
calculation shows only 2kW, which actually compares favourably with the
other rooms in the house. The intended heater is 4.2kW, boostable to 6kW.
Anyway, with all the bits added, I'm talking about �4,500 which gets me a
fully double glazed and heated wooden conservatory with natural slate
flooring. Even if I valued my labour at close on 3000 quid, I'd still end up
with a nicer conservatory, as I bet the local paper had the price for a
disgusting uPVC monstrosity with polycarbonate roof and a chipboard floor
that will have rotted away not long after installation.
I reckon it will take me about a week's work. Much of this will be preparing
the slate, painting the wood and digging the foundation holes (5 x 44cm
cubes) with a shovel. At 3000 pounds, I will be paying myself 600 pounds a
day.
Christian."
    @kylix_is: "On Mon, 19 Apr 2004 13:00:39 +0100, "Christian McArdle"
<quote>
Sounds like an excellent plan! And good value for money, unlike those
very plastic-looking ones advertised.
MM"
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